Convoys of Iraqi and Kurdish forces were pushing towards the east of the city on Monday, as US-led coalition airstrikes sent plumes of smoke into the air amid the sound of heavy artillery rounds.
Army Lt. Gen. Talib Shaghati said troops were pressing forward according to plan.
Some 2,000 Iraqi special forces are being supported by four brigades of the regular Iraqi Army, 15,000 Sunni militia, 15,000 Kurdish Peshmerga and a few thousand Shia militia.
They are taking the fight to an estimated 3,000 IS fighters in the city, with snipers sent in first to fight street-by-street.
Sky's Defence Correspondent Alistair Bunkall said: "The fear is that Mosul will be rigged with explosives.
"The other fear is chemical weapons. There is no doubt Islamic State has the capability and it's possible the group has been saving the weapons for 'D-Day'."
The Iraqi army dropped thousands of leaflets over the besieged city warning more than a million civilians of the imminent military offensive.
Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, commander of the US-led coalition, said the assault could last weeks - "possibly longer".
"This may prove to be a long and tough battle, but the Iraqis have prepared for it and we will stand by them," he said.
Most of the coalition's support has come in the shape of airstrikes and training, but US, French and British special forces are now also on the ground to advise local forces.
The push to retake the city is the biggest military operation in Iraq since American troops left in 2011.
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